For the men wearing wetsuits wading in a shallow bay teeming with trapped wild dolphins, the decision is as simple as it is ruthless. Running their hands carefully over each dolphin’s body, they check to ensure the creature is free from scars, particularly on the dorsal and tail fins.

At first glance this human interaction with one of the few creatures said to possess an intellect close to our own appears an act of caring tenderness. But in reality, these are businessmen selecting their merchandise for a multi-million-pound trade in live dolphins. The best specimens (usually young females, or cows) are removed from their families to be sold live for between £50,000 and £100,000 each to aquariums.

The dolphins they reject — the ones with minor blemishes on their skin — are slaughtered where they are trapped in that cove at Taiji on the south coast of Japan.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT – Discretion advised when scrolling down!

The cruel sea: A dolphin selected for sale last month in Japan. Others that are ‘not suitable’ are killed

In a frenzy of violence that has shocked animal lovers and marine environmentalists around the world, some are speared repeatedly by fisherman circling in motorboats whose propellers often slice the dolphins’ skin. Others are simply held underwater to drown.

Sometimes, a metal pole is rammed into their blubber in the hope of shattering the mammal’s spine. A cork stopper is then hammered into the hole where the rod was forced in, to try to reduce the blood spilt into the sea — to conceal the extent of the slaughter.

The rejects are slaughtered for their meat. Some are speared repeatedly by fisherman circling in motorboats whose propellers often slice the dolphins’ skin

Invariably a few dolphins try to make a break for freedom and attempt to jump over the netting that seals off the bay.

However, amid the blood-red waters almost all of them eventually succumb to their fate. These barbaric scenes took place just before Christmas, during a hunting season when Japanese fishermen ‘harvest’ dolphins to supply to aquariums for human entertainment.

Killer cove: The dolphins they reject – the ones with minor blemishes on their skin – are trapped in a cove at Taiji on the south coast of Japan

It is estimated that for every wild dolphin caught to be trained to perform tricks in captivity, around four times that number are slaughtered.

The fishermen then sell off the meat for about £10 a kilo. They see the creatures as a menace because they pose a threat to the dwindling reserves of fish in thePacific Ocean.

Blood red: Japanese fishermen collect the bodies of harpooned dolphins from the bloody waters of a bay in Taiji

But for those that survive the slaughter, life might as well be over.The stress a dolphin suffers as a result of being captured, transported and imprisoned in a small tank dramatically reduces its lifespan

While wild dolphins live for up to 60 or 70 years, captured ones often perish when they are as young as eight, say environmentalists.

According to marine experts, some dolphins are so distressed by their capture that they commit suicide.

The odds: For every wild dolphin caught to be trained to perform tricks in captivity, around four times that number are slaughtered

One of the most vocal campaigners against the practice is also one of the most knowledgeable — he is the very man who helped create and promote the worldwide aquarium industry.

Ric O’Barrybecame famous in the Sixties as the on-screen trainer of the five dolphins that played Flipper in the popular U.S. TV series, which was also hugely successful in Britain.

For ten years he worked atMiami Seaquarium, where he trained the wild mammals after capturing them on hunting expeditions in the Pacific.

Rounding them up: Fishermen drive bottle-nose dolphins into a net during their annual hunt off Taiji. The ‘drive hunt’ involved five or six large fishing vessels sailing out to sea to find a pod of dolphins

But when Kathy, the main dolphin that played Flipper, died in his arms after apparently losing the will to live, he says it dawned on him how cruel captivity is for such intelligent and social creatures.

For the past 40 years he has travelled the world highlighting the plight of dolphins in amusement parks, and even releasing them from those parks into the wild, often getting arrested in the process.

Three years ago, he made a documentary called The Cove, which revealed the truth about the ‘drive hunts’ that take place at Taiji in Japan. Yet since then, the practice has continued unabated — as these photographs demonstrate only too graphically.

O’Barry, 73, says live dolphins taken from the waters in Japan are shipped to aquariums and ‘swim-with-dolphin’ centres mostly in the Far East. Speaking from his home in Miami, O’Barry says: ‘Taiji is the number one location to get dolphins for the dolphinarium industry — or what I called “abusement parks”.’

Some dolphins are so distressed by their capture that they commit suicide. the stress that they suffer as a result of being captured dramatically shortens their lifespan

Although there are no international laws banning the shipment of live dolphins to those countries prepared to accept them, O’Barry claims the dolphins undergo terrible suffering.

‘After enduring a painfully long period of transportation, they are put into often filthy and confined conditions at aquariums. ‘These are free-ranging creatures with a large brain whose primary sense is sound.

‘Some have been placed in aquariums at casinos where the noise is appalling. These environments are hell-holes to creatures used to the open seas and which often swim up to 100 miles in a day in search of food. ‘They are taken away from the two most important aspects of their life — the world of oceanic sound and their families. ‘They end up suffering depression. I believe they are also capable of trying to commit suicide.’

Two years ago at theOkinawa Churaumi Aquarium in south-western Japan, hundreds of tourists at a marine show looked on in astonishment as a large dolphin rose up out of the water tank to balance precariously on the glass barrier of the aquarium. It then threw itself out of the water on to the ground.

Touchingly, the other dolphins in the tank swam to the glass wall to look at the plight of their companion, called Kuru (meaning ‘black’). The dolphin was eventually put into a huge tarpaulin sling and winched by a crane back into the water.

The hunt is on: Taiji’s fishermen are licensed by the national government to catch 2,100 dolphins and pilot whales in the six-month hunting season

The incident was filmed by an appalled American tourist, who passed the footage on to O’Barry. While many thought the mammal was trying to make a break for freedom, O’Barry believes it was more likely it wanted to commit suicide.

‘It was depressed and wanted to end it,’ O’Barry says, adding that it had been in captivity for six years after being taken from the wild. ‘I have seen it many, many times. They are living in a world of sensory deprivation, then bombarded with a wall of noise from the crowd.’

After the clip was made public the aquarium managers immediately issued a statement saying the dolphin was ‘playing around’ and suffered minor scratches and bruises on its head and fin. It was, they insisted, fine and enjoyed a healthy serving of mackerel and squid once returned to the tank.

They did admit, however, that dolphins occasionally jump out of the water on to dry land, so they have now placed crash matsaround the perimeter of the three tanks in their amusement park to avoid serious injury.

A hidden practice: Due to worldwide concern, the fishermen now try to hide the slaughter. The kills take place out of sight underneath blue tarpaulins

The trade in wild dolphins to U.S. aquariums has ceased due to public outrage, and the high-profile campaigns of activists like O’Barry.

There are no captive dolphins in Britain either as a result of a public backlash against the shows. Only a few are on show in Europe, and these animals were born in captivity — although O’Barry fears even this poses a threat to the mammals’ welfare because there is now a problem with inbreeding. O’Barry exhorts the public never to attend dolphin aquariums.

‘The solution lies with the consumer,’ he says. ‘Don’t buy a ticket for a captive dolphin show. ‘This is a multi-million-dollar industry I helped create. I remember loading them onto the planes after the Flipper show became so popular. At one point there were more dolphins in the UK than in Florida.

‘But the consumer now has to bring his power to bear on this trade, which also results in the slaughter of all those other dolphins. There is more money in live dolphins than dead ones, but the one fuels the other.’

A fisheries worker guides the carcass of dolphins at ‘killer cove’ in Taiji, Japan. The fishermen claim that any kills that take place are humane and that it takes only seconds for the dolphins to die

In Taiji, Nicole McLachlan, of theSea Shepherd Conservation Society, is part of a team monitoring the capture and killing of dolphins that takes place from September to March each year in the small port where whales have been hunted since the 17th century. Last month alone, she claims up to 170 cetaceans were killed, including pilot whales, risso, striped and bottlenose dolphins. More than 100 were captured for aquariums.

Such is worldwide concern over the slaughter that the fishermen try to hide it. ‘Nowadays the kills take place out of sight underneath blue and brown tarpaulins that cover the bay,’ the Australian marine environmentalist says.

‘The carnage lasts about half an hour. It is harrowing. ‘They are terrified. You hear the dolphins screaming; it’s a high-pitched wailing sound. ‘There is splashing as they thrash around in the water. Young dolphin calves are often among those slaughtered within the cove; some are younger than a year old.’

Yet locals are adamant it should continue. Police monitor the activists while many of the town’s 3,500 residents — most of whom are linked to the fishing industry — arrive to support the fishermen in this Japanese tradition.

The ‘drive hunt’ (‘oikomiryou’ in Japanese) involves five or six large fishing vessels sailing out to sea to find a pod of dolphins. The fishermen bang metal poles against the side of the boat to disorientate and scare them.

More boats arrive, making the same noise, to corral the confused and by now terrified pod into the cove, which is then sealed off. The next day the inspectors arrive to examine their quarry and separate the dolphins for the aquariums from those to be killed.

According to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, between 1968 and 1972, only 77 live-caught bottlenose dolphins were sent to aquariums from such hunts. But now Taiji’s 120 fishermen are licensed by the national government to catch 2,100 dolphins and pilot whales in the six-month hunting season.

A fisherman tows away dolphins that have been tied by rope to the front of his boat. In 2011, about 15 per cent of dolphins were taken into captivity (68 were kept alive and 968 killed)

The fishermen claim any kills that take place, particularly those where the rod shatters the spine, are humane and that it takes only seconds for the dolphins to die. It is a claim vehemently refuted by marine environmentalists.

A spokesman for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said: ‘In 2011, about 15 per cent of the dolphins were taken for captivity (68 were kept alive and 968 killed). ‘The year before that (2010-2011), nearly 20 per cent were taken into captivity (213 were sold for aquariums and 1,100 were killed) This year, however, may be even higher due to the 100 bottlenose dolphins already taken into captivity.’

In the summer months, long after the blood has been washed away from Taiji cove, tourists arrive to swim in the bay — with dolphins. The town has a whale museum and fish tanks in which dolphins are kept — in 2011, two dolphins were filmed in a tank so small it was nicknamed ‘the fish-bowl’.

Captured dolphins also swim in the bay, which is sealed off to ensure they cannot bolt to freedom.

And as tourists marvel at the antics of these sensitive creatures and play with them, almost every one remains blissfully unaware of Taiji’s bloody secret — and of how young healthy dolphins are snatched away from their parents to amuse humans in this callous multi-million-pound trade.

“WTF…I can only think that whoever is doing it, knows about sheep & either has a grudge against this farmer, or has been offered a good price if they can get hold of these rare sheep cuts! It can’t be religious, or they would have cut their necks, surely? They must be bloody desperate for money to cut the legs off live sheep though…Sick heartless bastards…I would also say that they would be pretty well covered in blood, so somebody knows someone, who is coming home covered in blood…plus, how do these people know the animals aren’t infected etc. there taking a big health risk too?”

“If you know who it is, please do the right thing, money isn’t everything…wouldn’t you rather have a clear conscience, & be able to sleep at night; instead of waiting for that dreaded knock at the door? because the police will find whoever has done this, if you don’t want to be dragged down with them…make the call!”

THIEVES cut off the legs of 10 sheep while they were still alive in a series of raids on a farm in Greater Manchester.

Sixty five-year-old farmer William Perkinsfound his butchered animals, including several pregnant ewes, dead with their back legs removed at the hip.

It is believed a dog was used to round-up his flock before they were attacked and the incident has left Mr Perkins and his wife Joan devastated.

The farmhouse is away from the fields and the couple have been using theirCCTVsystem to try to catch the criminals in the act.

Picture of black welsh mountain sheep

Mr Perkins said: “It is horrific and barbaric but very surgical – they know about butchering and have cut the legs off 10sheep at the hip bone.

“Someone has cut them off in a field in pitch black and also knows about sheep as none that have been killed are over two-years-old, as beyond that age they are mutton.

“Every night, I wake up and have a look at our CCTV to check if anyone is there. The people who have done this are inhuman to be able to cut the legs off an animal while it is still alive. To see what has happened the following day has been a massive shock.”

Mr Perkins, who lives with his wife and son David, has been breeding sheep for 20 years and now has around 70 remaining.

Animals Australia lodged the complaint after the animal protection organisation’sKuwaitiinvestigator discovered exported sheep were being sold in non-approved markets and killed in makeshift abattoirs, with slaughtermen ignoring international killing guidelines.

The case has again raised concerns from activists, Labor backbenchers, the Greens and independents that the new rules rely too much on self-regulation by the industry.

Exportersnow must comply with rules that assurehigh animal welfare standards from farm to slaughter. All animals are tracked so officials know that animals are slaughtered in approved facilities.

Exportersmust have supply chains independently audited, with the audit results given to the Agriculture Department.

The investigation has heightened fears over animal welfare with the upcoming Muslim festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha less than two months away.

Animals Australia lead campaigner Lyn White warned the festival was the peak period of animal suffering across the region and called on the government to implore exporters to have staff in every market place to ensure animals are not sold into non-approved facilities.

‘‘Animals being bought en mass for sacrificial slaughter by families and individuals. We hold grave concerns that Australian exported animals will continue to find their way into markets, in breach of regulations,’’ Ms White said.

Many in the industry are also worried about the potential for more cruelty in October.

Labour backbenchersMelissa Parke and Kelvin Thomson have led a vocal campaign against the trade with both seizing on the latest revelations as evidence the industry cannot be trusted to self-regulate.

Ms Parke, and Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, backed calls for Australian officials to be in the Middle East to monitor welfare during the festival.

Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said the new system was working but was ‘‘not perfect’’ conceding there would be slip-ups.

‘‘But we now have the provisions in place to act on those slip ups and hold exporters accountable for their actions and supply chains,’’ Senator Ludwig said.

The department of agriculture is currently investigating alleged breaches of strict new animal welfare The celebration of Eid al-Adha in the Middle-East involves a slaughtering of an animal such as a sheep, camel, or goat, to commemorateAbraham’s act of faith to sacrifice his son. The festival runs from the evening of October 25 to the next night.

Animals Australia has previously uncovered cruelty during the festival, including sheep being dragged along the ground and stuffed into car boots.

Ms White said hundreds of Australian sheep were sold last month at the non-approved Al-Rai market in Kuwait City, the market where she uncovered cruelty in 2010.

Describing the killing of a sheep, she said: ”With the buyer and [his] family crowded into the room to observe, the handling of this sheep included dragging it over and placing it next to and then on top of other just-slaughtered sheep … to prepare it for the throat cut.”

She said the slaughter-man used a knife that was too short, with a fast sawing action, not the quick ”sticking” of the neck required by international rules.

Ms White said the offences were ”critical non-compliances” that could lead to criminal sanctions, adding that the fact that hundreds of Australian sheep were seen at four different sites on two days showed a ”systematic and deliberate breach”.

”The government will no doubt again say that this shows the system is working but how can that be the case when breaches are only being reported by Animals Australia.”

Emanuel Exports and its sister company International Livestock Exports are the only businesses currently exporting to Kuwait. Emanuel Exports would not comment until the investigation was finished.

Earlier this year two exporters were found to have breached the rules in Indonesia after Animals Australia investigations.

Mr Thomson said he would raise questions about the case when Parliament resumes next week.

”The selling and slaughter of animals outside approved supply chains is a serious breach of the new system and exporters who allow it should have their export licence taken off them,” Mr Thomson said.

Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie will introduce a bill in Parliament on Monday to mandate pre-slaughter stunning of all Australian animals overseas.

He said this case made a ”mockery” of the government’s efforts to clean up the trade.

An Agriculture Department spokesman said the investigation would take weeks.

CIWF said that the mega pig factory farm in Chile is in huge trouble, as pigs have been dying and the health of the community has been put at risk.

Philip Lymbery, CEO at Compassion in World Farming said: “This appalling case is further evidence that factory farming is not just an animal cruelty issue – people and the planet are hugely impacted as well. The immense negative impact that the factory farming of half a million pigs will have had on the environment, and the local residents’ health, is staggering, both in scale and severity.”

Chilean authorities have declared a health alert at the plant, following the deaths of large numbers of pigs. According to local news reports, sows are being ‘eliminated’ to prevent new litters from being born and Agrosuper has declared that it will not be moving the pigs to another location but will be slaughtering all the remaining pigs, CIWF said.

Mr Lymbery added: “Compassion is looking to help resolve the crisis – to achieve an outcome with the best possible results for all involved, ensuring the welfare of these pigs is treated as a priority and that local residents are securely protected from any pollution. We want to ensure that such a calamity does not arise again.”

CHILE – Chilean Health Minister, Jaime Mañalich, has stepped in to help the residents of Freirina because of deficiencies at the Agrosuper pig processing plant in the area, where pigs have been dying and the health of the community has been put at risk

On Friday, an inspection was made at the factory and found that the company had not taken the actions they had promised,” the authority said.

The government decree has meant the closure of the plant while the health status of the facilities are assessed and so the authorities can provide a mechanism to begin to feed more than 500,000 pigs in that have not received food or water in recent days.

This was carried out by a working group comprising representatives of the Health Seremi Atacama, SAG and community members, who discussed the most effective measures to take.

The Minister Mañalich went to Agrosuper plant in Freirina, where he found that it was “completely abandoned, without workers, without supervision and pigs left to their fate”.

Meat processing company Agrosuper’s request for a three-month extension to the mandatory evacuation of its plant in northern Chile was met with disapproval on Tuesday by government officials and locals alike.

“The company initially requested a year to close the plant, then later nine months. We believe that with the estimates of our veterinarians, and specialists, six months is a more than reasonable time period to close the plant and reduce the bad odors,” Mañalich told La Tercera .

Agrosuper reasoned that with around 50,000 pregnant pigs, they need a total of nine months because the move could cause the death of the young animals.

28 May – Emma Slawinski, Compassion’s Senior Campaigns Manager says: “There are so many factors involved in this horrendous situation. The impact that this is having on the pigs’ welfare, the health and disease risks to the local residents, the immense negative impact the factory farming of half a million pigs will have had on the environment – it is staggering, both in scale and severity.”

Chilean authorities have declared a health alert at the plant, following the deaths of large numbers of pigs. According to local news reports, sows are being ‘eliminated’ to prevent new litters from being born and Agrosuper is trying to move the pigs to another location. But this will just be moving the same problem to another place: factory farming is cruel to pigs, bad for the environment, and as has been proven in this situation, a health and disease risk.

Emma continues: “Compassion is looking to help resolve the crisis – to have an outcome with the best possible results for all involved: the helpless pigs, the pushed-to-their-limits neighbours and the workers involved.”

22 May – Mañalich Agrosuper visited the plant of Freirina: is cruel and dangerous

Health Minister was to assess the situation of the approximately 500 000 pigs left in the kennel odors emanating. He said that the animals have escaped and that his deposition could contaminate the valley.

” Concerning the dead animals the minister said that “there are several dead pigs pavilions, each pavilion has a population of about 500 pigs, inspect places that there are about ten dead pigs. The waste treatment plant there is overflow of feces pools and several pavilions are animals that escaped (…) let the plant of 500 thousand animals stranded in my opinion is an act of cruelty and also a risk to the population inconceivable. ”

EligeVeganismo video. The opinions given in the video do not necessarily represent those of the owner of this channel. Are exclusive of what preparron this video. “We infiltrated in pig farms in Freirina Agrosuper company to document the situation of victims ignored after the social conflict that kept people and companies competing in a few weeks. present our first investigation revealed the hell of the 500,000 pigs for human consumption and held in the III region. ” Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/EligeVeganismo

Now more than ever, the end of Canada‘s commercial seal slaughter is within our reach. Because of your support, global demand for seal products has almost been eliminated, and the end of the Canadian seal slaughter is inevitable.

In a major development just last month, Canadian Senator Mac Harb introduced legislation in the Canadian Senate to end the largest commercial slaughter of marine mammals on Earth. The good news is the bill was unanimously approved to pass for second reading. BUT final passage of this critical legislation is still up for debate, so we must do everything in our power to make this happen.

I’ve recently returned from the East Coast of Canada, where I observed yet another year of very poor ice conditions that threaten the very survival of harp seal populations. But instead of taking action to protect seals, the Canadian government authorized the sealers to club and shoot 400,000 harp seals.

Gentle Barn President Jay Weiner told me in a phone interview that at least one of the cows taken in is confirmed to be pregnant. The remaining animals are suffering from malnutrition, parasites, infected open sores, runny noses, hacking coughs and major fevers. Some of the goats are actually blind from untreated eye infections.

Horse slaughter lobbyists and their allies in the state legislature are working hard to open the door to horse slaughter plants in Tennessee, and your voice is needed to fight this dangerous precedent.

In an underhanded move to prevent Tennesseans from standing up to this cruel and predatory business in their own communities, legislators have attached a “surety bond” amendment to HB 3619 that would require a bond to be posted for any legal challenge against the building of a horse slaughter plant.

This amendment would require citizens to pay 20% of the plant’s building or operational costs if they want to challenge a permit or license for a horse slaughter plant. Tennessee citizens who want to keep the horse killing business out of their communities would have to pay for the privilege of speaking out.

Take Action!

Speak out for horses and for your rights! Contact your state legislators today telling them not to encourage horse slaughter plants to be built in Tennessee by denying a citizen’s right to speak out.

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If I have anything to say on any post, you will see it in bold blue writing. I try to remain a lady, but it's hard to contain my anger & emotions at the some of the stories I post; I don’t have a heart of stone, tears stain many articles I write!

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ABOUT THESE POSTS

I would just like to make readers aware, that I search for stories on the internet; regards animal abuse etc. I copy stories etc. from the internet; assuming these stories are correct at time of publishing. Having said that, sometimes the press get it wrong! So I just want to add that at the time of me posting a news story, I presume all the facts seem present & correct.
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DUE TO ANIMAL HATERS...I WILL ONLY ADD PEOPLE WHO CAN PROVE WHO THEY ARE via Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter etc. & WHO HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN ANIMAL WELFARE... i.e. if your Facebook page has absolutely nothing to do with animals, I see no point in joining my page. My Facebook is solely for animal welfare, I am not interested in playing games etc. I don't mean to sound rude but I am not interested in the amount of friends I have, its the quality of those friends that count.
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My aim is to educate & raise awareness to the horrors animals face, at the hands of humans, every day, around the world!!
We can not hope to achieve better laws, to protect animals, unless we unite as one, to speak up for those who are voiceless!!
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